How will the Women's Champions League format change from 2025/26?

The new format incorporates a single league phase featuring 18 teams – two more than the 16 involved under the previous group stage format.

This will allow more clubs to compete, with a more competitive and dynamic league phase ensuring every match counts.

Under the new format, teams will no longer play three opponents twice – home and away – but will instead face fixtures against six different teams in the league phase, playing half of those matches at home and half of them away.

The results of each match will decide the overall ranking in the new 18-team league, with three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat.

Having all the teams ranked together in a single league will mean that there is more to play for all the way through to the final night of the league phase, when all the matches will kick off at the same time.

How will teams reach the Women's Champions League knockout phase and will the format for the knockout phase change?

The top four sides in the league phase will qualify automatically for the quarter-finals, while the teams finishing in 5th to 12th place will compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to secure their path to the last eight. Teams ranked 13 to 18 will be eliminated.

The four winners of the knockout phase play-offs progress to the quarter-finals, where they will each face one of the top-four finishers, who will be seeded and will play the second leg of their quarter-final at home.

From the quarter-finals onwards, the competition will follow its existing format of knockout rounds.

For the 2025/26 competition, the league phase matches will be played between October and December, with the final staged at Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, on Saturday 23 May 2026.

What is the Women's Europa Cup?

For the first time, UEFA is also organising a second women's club competition, the UEFA Women's Europa Cup, meaning new teams can test themselves against European opposition.

The Women's Europa Cup will be played in parallel to the Women's Champions League and takes place over six rounds – two qualifying rounds, the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and a two-legged final.

Thirteen teams – the third-placed teams in the domestic league from associations ranked 8–13 and the runners-up of associations ranked 18–24 – are entered directly into the Women's Europa Cup.

Additionally, clubs eliminated in the Women's Champions League third qualifying round, along with runners-up and third-placed teams from second qualifying round, enter the tournament via a 'feeding' system.

Winners of the Women's Europa Cup will automatically qualify for the third qualifying round of the champions path of the following season's Women's Champions League.

Why is UEFA changing the format of the Women's Champions League?

Since the reformatting of the competition for the 2021/22 season, we have witnessed great matches, record stadium attendances and TV audiences and interest is higher than ever before. Now UEFA wants to build on the success of the competition and make the Women's Champions League even more competitive, deliver more excitement for supporters and an even better sporting experience for players.

The changes to the flagship women's competition follow similar amendments to UEFA's men's club competitions, which have featured the new single-league system since the 2024/25 campaign.